Hoboken votes are -- believe it or not -- still coming in; final election result may not be available until after Thanksgiving

Hudson Reporter

Nov 15, 2012 | 3011 views | 0 | 10 | |

HOBOKEN -- A county election official said Thursday that the results of Hoboken's Nov. 6 elections likely won't be released until after Thanksgiving.

Although Hoboken residents voted on Nov. 6 for three school board seats and three public questions, the results have held up pending a count of absentee and other ballots. Residents were able to vote through the end of election week due to delays from Hurricane Sandy.

The machine vote denoted a victory for Board of Education slate Kids First, a “no” vote on eliminating rent control and a mayor/council election move from May to November without runoff elections.

Recently, a school board candidate, campaign manager and a local tenant activist said they had heard that the results would be released next Tuesday, Nov. 20. But that date has been pushed back.

Board of Elections clerk Michael Harper said Thursday that the odds of the vote being counted by Tuesday are 70/30 against.

“They have to be accepted up until the nineteenth, as long as they are postmarked by the fifth,” Harper said. “Yesterday alone I received three bins. I expect that number to fall off every day, but the superintendant of elections has also been overwhelmed by provisionals. It looks like there might be as many provisional ballots as there are vote by mails. I will have those numbers out the minute that I legally can, but if I don’t get those numbers in, we are looking at after Thanksgiving.”